Wednesday, December 23, 2009

December 22, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A newly released Angus Reid poll shows that the majority of Americans are opposed to same-sex “marriage.”

In the poll 1,001 respondents were asked, “Do you favor or oppose allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally?” Forty-six percent of respondents said that they were opposed to same-sex “marriage,” while only 43% said they are in favor. Ten percent said they are not sure.

The poll has a margin of error of 3.1 percent.

The results from the poll come at the same time as a volley of attempts at legalizing same-sex “marriage” in some of the country’s most liberal states have been defeated.

In Maine, considered one of the most liberal states in the Union, same-sex “marriage” had been legalized by the legislature earlier in 2009. However, the law was suspended after defenders of natural marriage succeeded in getting enough signatures to put the issue to a popular vote in early November. That ballot initiative passed, making Maine the 31st state to pass a ban on same-sex marriage through popular vote.

At the same time, a same-sex “marriage” bill was recently defeated in the New York Senate, despite a fierce push by Governor David Paterson to have the measure passed. A vote on another such bill in New Jersey was canceled at the 11th hour earlier this month after it become clear that there were not enough votes in the senate to see it pass.

However, earlier this week Washington D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty signed a bill legalizing same-sex “marriage” in the district. That bill had been passed in an 11-2 vote by D.C. city counselors, who successfully prevented the measure from being put to a popular vote, arguing that doing so would amount to “discrimination.”

Interestingly, a 2008 study on polling on the issue of same-sex “marriage” showed that polls tended to underestimate the actual support for natural marriage on average by a full 7%. The study compared polling in 26 states, measuring the results from the polls against the results of the actual votes during elections.